Construction of the subsurface of an ice rink

ABSTRACT

The base of an ice rink is formed of a compressed layer of sand contained in a tank of insulating material such as polyurethane; cooling pipes preferably made of plastic are located in the compressed sand.

United States Patent Inventor Wilmen Robert Sills Do b e r nk News imi R- 1 Downsview, Ontario, Canada Appl. No. 861,112

Filed Sept. 25, 1969 Patented Aug. 17, 1971 CONSTRUCTION OF THE SUBSURFACE OF AN ICE RINK 5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl .l 62/235 Int. Cl A63c 19/10 Field of Search 62/66, 235

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,301,780 11/1942 Heinzelman 62/235 2,874,549 2/1959 Beltz 62/235 2,878,651 3/1959 Heinzelman 62/235 Primary Examiner-William J. Wye Attorney-Douglas S. Johnson ABSTRACT: The base of an ice rink is formed of a compressed layer of sand contained in a tank of insulating material such as polyurethane; cooling pipes preferably made of plastic are located in the compressed sand.

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gzi z wgzzie CONSTRUCTION OF THE SUBSURFACE OF AN ICE RINK FIELD OF INVENTION This invention relates to the construction of an ice rink and has particular relation to providing a base to support the ice surface of the rink.

PRIOR ART Ice surfaces on artificial rinks are usually produced through the medium of cooling pipes located in a flat bed of concrete; the surface of the'concrete is flooded with water and the coolant, pumped through the pipes at around 18 F., causes the surface water to freeze. Concrete, being porous, is a relatively poor conductor and accordingly any changes in the temperature in the air above the surface are reflected immediately in a change of the condition of the ice before the volume of ecolant in the pipes can be increased to compensate for the change in the air temperature.

The ideal ice temperature should be about 20 F., because if it rises to 25 F., the ice is too soft, and if it drops below F., it becomes too hard and the skating action causes chips on the ice surface.

The ideal construction of the base to support the ice surface is one which provides for rapid conduction of heat away from the water in order to form the ice and which at the same time provides a uniformly cold bed so that the temperature of the ice will remain at the preferred level of F., irrespective of changes in the air temperature above the ice.

It is an object of the invention to provide a base for an artificial ice rink which enables the ice to be maintained at a temperature of about 20 F irrespective of the changing temperature exterior of the ice and the base.

SUMMARY The invention involves substituting for the concrete a compressed layer of sand which in this state is a better conductor than concrete. In the layer of sand and close to the surface are positioned cooling pipes preferably supported on boards of suitable rigid material, the pipes are preferably made of plastic. In order to provide the proper cold bed conditions so that the ice temperature may be maintained at the preferred temperature of 20 F., the sand at the level of approximately 6 inches is provided with a layer of insulating material which provides a barrier to the transfer of heat from the ground below. Preferably this insulating material is made of a plastic, such a polyurethane, and for simplicity of construction it is provided by boards forming two layers, the boards being in staggered relation, one layer to the other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention will now be described in relation to the accompanying drawing in which The FIGURE is a vertical section through a bed of an ice rink, which bed is constructed according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the FIGURE the ice rink, generally denoted by the numeral 10, is of the type intended for the purpose of playing ice hockey and is shown to have an upstanding board 12 surrounding the ice surface; it will be appreciated though that the construction described below is equally applicable to an ice rink designed solely for the purpose of skatmg.

The ice rink 10 has an ice surface 14 which is formed of a layer of compressed sand 16, the operative depth of which as a 16 is divided into an upper portion 20 and a lower portion 22 which are separated by horizontally disposed insulation 24,

the depth of the upper portion 20 being as little as 6 inches.

The insulation 24 is preferably provided with an upstanding side 26 which terminates at the base of the board 12, the insulation 24 and the upstanding side 26 forming a tank to contain the upper portion 20 of the bed of sand 16. The insulation 24 may be selected from a broad range of materials having low conductivity and may be formed of a single sheet of a selected material with an integral side 26; however, as illustrated in the figure, a preferred method of construction for the purpose of simplicity is to provide two layers of insulating material 28 and 30, each layer being formed of boards of insulating material with abutting ends, the junction of the boards in the upper layer 28 being staggered in relation to the junction of the boards of the lower layer 30. It has been found that a particularly useful insulating material is polyurethane, the combined thickness of the upper and lower layers 28 and 30 being approximately 2 inches. With this construction the level of the insulation 24 in relation to the ice surface 14 is such that the upper portion 20 of the compressed sand 16 is only about 6 inches deep. The insulation 24 effectively prevents frost penetration from the upper portion 20 into the lower portion 22, and as a result the drainage pipes 18 function in the manner intended.

The upper portion 20, since it is made of conductive, compressed sand 16, is formed into a most effective cold bed by cooling pipes 32 laid in a horizontal plane close to or at the surface of the upper portion 20 of the: compressed sand 116. The cooling pipes 32 are preferably made of plastic in order to eliminate the possibility of breakage which, if it occurred, would lose valuable playing time. The pipes 32 are shown in the figure to be supported by sheets 34 preferably though not necessarily made of a conductive material, the requirement of course being that this support should permit the cooling effect produced by the pipes 32 to transfer to the remainder of the upper portion 20 of the compressed sand 16.

In the arrangement described above, the upper portion 20 of the compressed sand 16 forms a highly effective cold bed which maintains the ice temperature at about the 20 F. mark when the coolant passing through the pipes 32 is at a temperature of about 18 F., and it has been found that the ice temperature is maintained at the desired mark even though the air temperature above the ice surface 14 varies considerably.

In order to provide the requisite ice surface 14 with the bed construction already described, the upper portion 20 of the compressed sand 16 is frozen by passing coolant through the pipes 32 at about 18 F., and when the upper portion 20 is frozen, water is then sprinkled lightly on top to provide a seal, after which the surface is flooded in the usual manner.

lclaim:

l. A base for an ice rink consisting of a layer of compressed, finely divided material, said compressed layer being contained in a tank formed of insulating material, and pipes containing coolant located at the surface of said compressed layer, said tank being formed of overlapping polyurethane boards.

2. A base according to claim 1 wherein said compressed layer is sand.

3. A base according to claim 1, wherein said insulating material is polyurethane.

4. A base according to claim 1, wherein said pipes are formed of plastic material.

5. A base according to claim 4, wherein said pipes are provided with support means. 

1. A base for an ice rink consisting of a layer of compressed, finely divided material, said compressed layer being contained in a tank formed of insulating material, and pipes containing coolant located at the surface of said compressed layer, said tank being formed of overlapping polyurethane boards.
 2. A base according to claim 1 wherein said compressed layer is sand.
 3. A base according to claim 1, wherein said insulating material is polyurethane.
 4. A base according to claim 1, wherein said pipes are formed of plastic material.
 5. A base according to claim 4, wherein said pipes are provided with support means. 